Magic has been a form of entertainment for centuries. Performers or magicians would do routines in front of an audience, and appear to have supernatural powers, but the question that has always been asked by people is, “Is magic real or an illusion?”

The word magic is defined as a form of power that allows people to do impossible things by saying words or performing actions. An illusion is something that appears to be different from what it is intended to be, so if a performer appears to have taken a ball from his left hand using his right hand, and then shows the audience that the ball has disappeared from his right hand and suddenly makes it appear on his left hand, this can be considered an illusion. However, magic can also be defined as a special power or skill, and if the audience is tricked to believing that the magician has special powers or technical skills, then perhaps they have just witnessed magic, or a magic trick.

Illusionist and mentalist Derren Brown had a series of episodes called “Trick of the Mind”, wherein he performs phenomenal tricks and illusions on people, eventually giving an effect of amazement. If a performance can give an effect like that to an audience, then it is from the audience’s own perception that the magic is happening in front of them, whether they know it is real or just an illusion. So the answer is magic can be both real and an illusion.

Robert Cox, a convicted paedophile, is now at it again. Convicted of possessing child abuse images, he has simply re-emerged using an alias. He is now performing his tricks as though nothing has happened, but he can’t hide his vile and evil paste.

Leaving the Magic Circle after he was convicted of hoarding no less than 18,000 child abuse pictures on his computer, Robert Cox now advertises himself as ‘Robin Winter’. The under-cover magician even has a website, and those booking his magic shows will have no idea who they are really dealing with.

It was in 2012 that the paedophile was convicted because of his possession of indecent images of children. For this offence he was ordered to attend a sex offender programme. The courts heard that he didn’t only have images, but movies as well and these he was sharing with friends.

Even though the judge, Judge Martin Griffin, sentenced Cox to a three-year community order, this hasn’t stopped him offering his services as a comedy magician and public speaker. Even though he couldn’t renew his membership with the Magic Circle, this hasn’t been enough to keep him out of action. In fact his website features Cox-cum-Winter smiling into the camera, offering his magician services and advertising delighted testimonials from unknowing and unsuspecting customers.

Speaking from his home which he shares with his wife, he casually stated that his acts don’t put kids at risk and that he doesn’t entertain kids.

The legendary magician and evasion artist Harry Houdini has got a thrilling book written about him. Author, Steven Galloway, had to do extensive research on Houdini for this magician’s biography. Steven Galloway will talk while illusionist David Gifford provide a magic show at a Beyond Words event at the Chan Centre.

Steven Galloway’s latest book is The Confabulist and he will read passages from it while Gifford performs some spectacular illusions to bring to life what Galloway is actually describing in his book.

David Gifford is a superb stage magician and will not only demonstrate some scintillating magic tricks, but he will also talk about magic, how it works and how to start as a beginner.

In the novel ‘The Confabulist’, Houdini stipulates that magic doesn’t actually exist and that it is an illusion rather. Galloway is quick to say however, that it is the illusion that makes it magic. Galloway went on to add that there wouldn’t be real magic in the show, but that ‘there will only be the illusion of magic’.

The idea behind the show is for the audience to observe the magic tricks described in Steven’s book such as reality versus imagination. There would also be time for questions at the end of the show as well as a time for book signing.

Galloway is also well known for his novel ‘The Cellist of Sarajevo’ and is an associate professor and acting chair of the University of British Columbia’s creative writing program.

Gifford on the other hand has made a name for himself with his musically-accompanied magic performances. Gifford is also a visual art educator at the University of Victoria.

Galloway said that he was looking immensely forward to the magic event at Chan Centre, saying that he had never been accompanied by a magician before, reckoning that it was guaranteed to be a fun-night.

You can trick people but you can never trick death. There comes a point where not even magic can save the magician. These legendary Magicians lost their lives while performing on stage.

Great Lafayette

Great Lafayette is a famous German magician and the highest paid of his time. He loved animals. One day his friend Harry Houdini gave him a dog, the Beauty. He bestowed it royal treatment including five course meals and a diamond -speckled collar. One day the dog died. It was buried at the town cemetery and he requested that upon his death, he be buried beside it.
Two days later, a fire broke during a show opening. He escaped unharmed but for a moment. He remembered that a horse he had brought for the performance was trapped in the building. He dashed in to the building and never came out alive. His wish was honored and he was laid to rest beside his dog.

Joseph Burrus

Joseph Burrus also known as “Amazing Joe” is another unfortunate magician who lost his life in a fateful stunt. On the Halloween night of 1991, he decided to outshine his hero Harry Houdini. He shackled himself and lay in a homemade coffin. The coffin was then lowered to a 7 feet deep grave. It was then covered with seven tons of soil and cement. Unfortunately for him, the overlying weight collapsed and shattered his body to death.Charles Rowen

Charles Rowen, a renowned South African magician met his fateful death in 1930. He was performing a stunt that involved jumping out of a moving car. At a speed of 70 KPH, he was supposed to jump out of the car and amazingly survive. However, that was not the case. Instead, he delayed and as the car gained more speed he stumbled outside the car and was crashed over its wheels. It was such a horrible site for the mammoth crown that was present at the show.

Janaka Basnayake

The 24 year old magician Janaka Basnayake from Sri Lanka lost his life in March 2012. This happened as he was trying to break the world record by being buried alive. He convinced his family to bury him in a 10 feet deep pit and cover it with soil and wood. However after 7 ½ hours they got worried about him and dug him up. By then, he was conscious. They rushed him to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Madame Delinsky

Madame Delinsky met her fateful death in November 1820 while performing the bullet Trick. She and her Polish husband asked six men to load their rifles with empty rounds of ammunition. They were to shoot at her and she was supposed to catch or stop all the six bullets with her body. One solder however used a live bullet and shot through her abdomen. She passed away two days later while receiving treatment.

Being a legend in the magic industry with a record selling of over 40 million to his shows, David has performed numerous eye-catching magic tricks, but the most outstanding one was the death saw magic trick. During this trick, David was lay on a raised table where a saw mill was started passing over his head without cutting through is neck. This was an amazing trick which left everyone who was present wondering how that can happen.

The bullet-catch trick by Penn and Teller

Can you imagine the speed at which a bullet travels and the intensity and impact it has on any platform it lands on? With this imagination, now imagine someone being able to catch a fired bullet which is almost 5 meters way. This is the exact experience which was offered by Penn and Teller when they performed at a theater to exhibit this out of this world magic experience.

The vanishing of the Liberty Statue in New York by David Copperfield

David should be on the frontline to gain the bragging rights as the best magician. He has managed to perform to pull off some wonderful tricks and the vanishing of the Liberty Statue makes it to our top 3 list of the finest magic tricks. Can you imagine staring at the statue and the next minute it is nowhere to be seen? How can such a big statue disappear right in front of your eyes? That was the experience witnessed by the people who were at that place during the time when David performed this trick.

Magic has become a very popular entertainment activity. It is because of the great entertainment benefits that this art brings, that it has become one of the entertainment avenues which attract huge crowds wanting to see what the magicians have to offer. It is however very important that we note that this magic is sometimes referred to as stage magic just to differentiate it from the ritual magic which is mostly associated with evil or rather dark spirits. This particular magic in question is simply an art developed to entertain people by performing tricks which in themselves are illusions that are impossible in the normal human life situation. One who has perfected this art of creating illusions is commonly referred to as stage magicians and they attract a large audience whenever they perform their tricks. There are those who perform in the streets whereas there are those who perform in theaters. It all depends with one’s preference and professional standards.

It is estimated that the first recording of magical practice in a published document was done in the 16th century and ever since there have been very many documentation as well as movies to provide a better insight into the art of magic. Although the people who practiced magic in the past did not do it to earn a living, it has over the years become a source of revenue to those who choose it as a profession. This art is however, a skill which one can learn provided they have the right people to teach them and in this case the right people would be those already in the professional business of the art of magic.

Call it mind reading or mentalism, psychological magic is that tantalizing tricking of the mind with emphasis always being on fun and not used to make people feel uncomfortable. The idea behind psychological magic is to keep your audience both mesmerized and mystified. Any professional magician who has been trained at a magic school will have had training in the art of illusion.

Unleash Your Psychic Powers

Most people who have been an event where a magician had psychic powers would love to have some of the psychic powers within them unleashed. Now there are simple tricks available which will enable them to perform their own psychological magic. When you look on the Internet you will see that there are fantastic tips and information available on the secrets of top magicians. Some of their amazing secrets are revealed to allow ordinary people discover ways to also perform magical tricks that promise to keep people spellbound.

Most people who aspire to be crafty magicians won’t become skilled enough to perform these tricks quickly and swiftly to carry them out successfully. This is where psychology is put to work because it creates effects that promise to work after one or two tries.

Mind Blowing Card and Coin Tricks

Everybody wants to be able to have friends and family that are blown away by the fascinating tricks they can perform. Now you can with perform your own psychological magic with simple tricks Mentalism is a powerful form of magic and you will be able to perform card and coin tricks that will keep people riveted. Psychological magic takes time and patience, but with practice and the help of simple tricks you will get it and also get the reaction you want from your audience.

Probably you have heard many times about different facts and myths that surround magicians. Learn more about some interesting facts you may have never heard of:

Prince Charles is the most famous member of the Magic Circle. After having performed the famous Club & Balls tricks for members he joined the Club in 1975.

The amount of dead magicians is at least of 15, who died while performing 225 tricks in 2 just 2 minutes in an attempt for a World Record in

One of the most famous phrases of the artistic world, “Died on stage” was extremely put into practice by Coulew of Lorraine in 1963, when an angry audience member clubbed him to death.

There are two magicians who have stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and they are Harry Houdini and David Copperfield.

The already mentioned Harry Houdini chose his artistic name in order to respect the father of modern magic, Robert-Houdin.

All magicians are known to be good inventor and very creative. Even one of the most known magicians invented the nowadays popular typewriter keyboard.

Matthew Buchinger, an 18th Century famous magician was born without arms or legs. Anyway he developed himself and became a magician, a calligrapher and a musician. Apart from all his professional achievements, he became the father of eleven children.

The biggest magic club in the world is called International Brotherhood of Magicians, and it is the largest as it counts with around 25,000 members.

There are plenty of guides on the Internet showing how easy it is to learn some simple but very entertaining magic tricks. These guides will take you by the hand and lead you through the basics. Not only does learning magic develop creativity and problem-solving skills, it simply provides a host of opportunities for entertaining people at different events. Take David Blaine for instance. He is a great performer of street magic whose amazing stunts rocketed him to stardom in a short space of time.

Learn the Tricks of the Greats

Magicians such as David Blaine and David Copperfield even allow you to learn some of their tricks by offering the public free access to learn some of their amazing skills. Just remember that to do these magic tricks and ensure that they are effective, you will need to practice them thoroughly so that you can do them well.

It can even be therapeutic for adults and children in a stressful environment. Its a breeze to learn simple magic tricks, and you’ll certainly be helping to give your audience a good time. Some highly entertaining magicians use short stories with their tricks and keep their audiences enraptured. Whether you want coin tricks, free card tricks, mentalism and illusions you can learn a host of tricks top magicians have used, and free of charge. Whatever your level pf magic, you are guaranteed to find something new to impress and delight.

Effortless Impromptu Entertainment

Street magic can offer a variety of illusions, but the bottom line is that these magic tricks can be used impromptu which will ensure you become the ‘entertainer of the moment’ for a host of events.

The person who has a few magic tricks up his sleeve is an absolute hero when a party lacks sparkle. Everybody loves magic tricks…even adults. Magic tricks are a fantastic way to amaze and delight party-goers. If a party is battling to build up an exciting vibe, a few magic tricks can turn an otherwise boring event into something mesmerising. There are lots of magic tricks that anyone can learn. Card tricks, mind-reading magic tricks and vanishing tricks are all guaranteed to be highly entertaining and mind boggling.

Step by Step Guide to Perform Simple Magic

You can lean some really easy and amazing tricks completely free too. There are magic online sites which show you how to learn tricks from free videos which will show you step-by-step how to do each trick. There are also free online libraries which will tell you all about some of the feats of the world’s greatest magicians. Some of the tricks are downright dangerous but these are for very experienced magicians.

A favourite trick to delight old and young is where you take two purple silk handkerchiefs and tie them together at the corner. Take a yellow handkerchief and vanish it. Hold the two purple silks and pull on them and the yellow silk handkerchief is found to be tied in between them. These are simple magic tricks that are easy to learn but keep audiences guessing, even in their simplicity.

How to Delight when Everyone is Watching

The Internet is a treasure trove of ideas for simple magic tricks which you can use whenever the opportunity arises. Who knows you may become so sought after, you may even begin looking at becoming a full time magician!